LEEDS, England -- A British businessman's ex-wife described the breakdown of her marriage, saying that her husband burned thousands of dollars of her clothes.

Jane Sanderson testified in Leeds Crown Court that she realized something was very wrong with the couple's life and marriage when she discovered after returning from a 2006 vacation that she and her husband, Neil Medley, were about to lose their home, The Daily Mail reported. She said that she sold the vanity license plate on her husband's Ferrari as part of a desperate effort to stave off foreclosure on the house valued at $1.5 million.

To get even, she said, her husband burned clothes valued at more than $20,000. Missing items included three ball gowns owned by her sister and all her handbags. Medley claimed he had given the clothes away, saying that Heather Mills, the estranged wife of Paul McCartney, got a pair of shoes, but neighbors reported seeing Medley carrying debris out to the trash.

The hearing Thursday was part of Medley's appeal of his conviction for the vandalism.